Air diffusers and methods of making the same



Aug. 27, '1963 c. N. O'DAY ETAL 3,101,590

AIR DIEFUSERS AND METHODS oF MAKING THE SAME Filed Dec. l5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 27, 1963 c. N. o'DAY ETAL 3,101,690

' AIR DIEFusERs AND METHODS 0E MAKING THE sAME Filed Dec. l5, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS. caw-Awa A'. a'/w 650,065 J. swfs/vsy United States Patent() 3,101,690 AIR DFFUSERS AND METHDS @F MAKING THE SAME Cortland. N. Day, Port Washington, and George li. Sweeney, Manhmset, NX. (both of 185 Madison Ave., New York, NX.)

Filed Dec. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 359,722 3 Claims. (Cl. 113-116) The present invention relates to an air diffuser and it particularly relates to a method of making and assembling air diiiusers.

It is among the objects of the present invention to provide a novel method of assembling elongated -air diffusers, and particularly the vane elements thereof, so that they may be readily mounted into a diffuser construction vvith a minimum of labor and at low cost, witha superior construction. l

Another object is to form a novel elongated lair diffuser construction in which the vane units will be unitarily assembled by a substantially continuous operation and then may be associated with one another to form the nal diffuser construction.

Still `further objects and advantages will appear in the more detailed description set -forth below, it being understood, however, that vthis more detailed description is given by way of illustration and explanation only and not by way of limitation, since various chan-ges therein may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and-spirit of the present invention.

ln accomplishing the above objects, the oblique internal vanes of the diffuser are iirst die-cut and then turned upwardly `from a strip of metal and then thefedges of the strip are folded inwardly to close the back of the strip of metal and form a platelike construction with upturned oblique vanes, a plurality of which may be assembled together to form agfinal diffuser construction.

These elements, after they have been cut in lengths, then are provided with bolt openings and they may be conveniently assembled together ywith the vanes themselves acting 'as spacers and defining the width of the transverse passageways and serving to correct and space the channels or paths through which the air must pass while being subjected to the short oblique 4internal deiiectors.

In the preferred -form of the invention .there is provided an even number of equal number o-E solid passageways on each side of a central element in which the air will be oppositely directed on opposite sides of the central partition and with said partition having a transverse baie or element at the end thereof, .substantially eX- tending across the two innermost slots or elongated passageways. y y

With the foregoing `and other objects in view, the invention consists of the novel construction, `combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter more specifically g described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and moditications can be resorted to which `iall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

FIG. l is an elongated lfront plan view of a vane conments orflFlGS.l to 3 in perspective'from Vthe vup-turned vane side.

FIG. 6 is. a top perspective wiew ofthe opposite arv rangement of vanes, as compared to FIG. v in which the y by the underfolded side edges-of the strip and with the.

to prevent rust or discoloration.' 1

vanesare opposit'ely inclined. v

FIG. .7 is a rear perspective view of thel finally assembled diluser construction.

`FIG.S is a fragmentary front elevational view.

FIG. 9 is a transverse sectionalview taken upon the Referring to the assembled units of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, these of course :may be of yany length and may be closed oit at their ends so as to yform a complete diffuser construction, or they may beextended from wall to wall, there being shown continuous sections thereof and the manner in which they `are assembled; I

End plates may be placed .upon the units of FIGS. 7 to l9, or they may be continuedwwith connecting tlanges or plates to ionm as long a unit as desired:

Referring Ito FIGS. l to 4, thereis shown a strip of metal A which may be of stainless steel, sheet aluminum or ordinary steel, which is suitably-painted or linished The strip A is irst formed with the central bolt openings 1t) and the half bolt openings 1l, which will coincide with the openings 1li when thestrip'has been folded in final position as indicated in FIGS.'5 'and v6.

After the holes 10 and 11 have been punched in position, the side portions 13 are folded atan angle of 90, as vindicated at y112, so that `these sidel ianges will project at, right angles from the' central stripfportion indicated at 14 (see FIGS. 1-to 4). I f

At Athis stage there are a series of oblique die-cuts made as indicated at 15,v with the die-cut portions 16 being 'turned upwardly at right angles from the base portions 14. f

Finally the flanges 12 are then cfoldedinwardly, as

` indicated at 1'7, so that they will iinally come together ln FIGS. 5 and 6 are shown the final units B and lC,

having the vanes in opposite directions, with the overlapping completed openings 16 for the assembled bolts and with all vof the die-cut openings 15 being covered opposite vanes 16 extending at right angles upwardly from the iinal folded strip, havingthe vane portion 14 andthe underfolded side edges 18.`

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, these strips are shown of predetermined length so that they may be assembled into a inal diiuser, and, if desired, these Llengths may-tbe continued by overlapping plates so as to-extend from wall to wall or -for the full length of the diffuser construction. It will be noted that in the iinal assembly of FIGS. 5 and 6 the half holes 11 will match the single' holes 10 and form a unitaryr bolt hole, and that recesses, as indicated at 15, will be covered bythe underfolded side edges 13.

In assembly, as shown in FIG. 9, two of these units B are shown assembled with two units C and with a central portion D having a T-head E.

.A central plate member 30 may also be provided with an eyelet 31. -to attach a damper construction.. These units B and C are-then assembled together by means of therbolts 32 with the nuts 33 on the'in-turned plates 34 rubber gaskets 40 and 41-to be pressed against a wall or 3 ceiling clement indicated diagrammatically at 52 in FIG. 8.

The in-turned flanges 38 and 39 will l-imit the compression of the side ceiling or .top and bottom ceiling or wall gaskets'40and 41.

The bolt openings 42 (see FIG. 7) are designed to receive the bolts 43, which, by the interior nuts 44 (see FIG. 9) engage the side elements 46 of the internal mounting frame member 45.

The elements 46 may be welded to the U-members 47, which will reenforce and hold in position the front flanges 36 -and 37. The internal members 46 are spaced at intervals, as indicated by the bolts 43, with one being positioned for every length of a unit, as indicated in PIG. 7. The slot in the wall may be as Wide as the two side elements 46, with thegasket elements 40 and 41 sealing the sides of the wall adjacent said slot.

It will be noted that the side plates 34 and 35 are connected by means of the oblique portions 53 to the Aface anges 36 and 37 so that a recess will be formed below the T-shaped head E, substantially extending across the inside slots.

Four slots are shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, With the oppositely turned vanes 16, so that Ion each side of the T-head E air will be Idiiferently directed, as indicated by the arrows 54 and 55 in FIG. 8.

The units B and C will all be positioned at the bottom of the wall formed by 'the oblique sides 53, well below the T-head E which is flush with the side flanges or face flange members 36 and 37.

ln the lforming operation, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, in one form of the invention, the operation is started with the base strip A, 1.562 inches, then the central holes 10, 0.140 inoh and the half holes 11, 0.070 inch, are punched therein so that there will be a half hole 11 on each edge opposite the central hole 10.

The strip A is continuously advanced in the forming operation to `fold ythe side edges 13 down to form the sides flanges, as indicated at 12,with the va-nes 16 then being dieTcut and 4punched out so that they will be obliquely set at a 45 Gr.60" angle as indicated in the middle of FIGS. 1 to 4.

The part folding of the side edges 13 to form the 90 side anges 12 will give the strip strength .while it is n being die-cut :at 15 to form the oblique vanes 16.

Normally, the rectangular die-cut portions at 15 are punched two or four Iat ya time, with the cut being made on three sides `as indicated at 15 and the vanes 16 being -turned upwardly at a right angle of 90 to the base portion 14.

The right tangle flanges 12 yare folded inwardly as a final operation, as indicated at 18, and the final strips, as indicated in FIGS. and 6, may `be cut off in six foot lengths, if this is the preferred diameter. The vanes 16 themselves act as spacer elements and will correctly fix the spacing and the elongated slots in which the vanes 16 are positioned.

As many changes could be made in the above air diffusers and methods of making the same, and many widely dierent embodiments ot this invention could be made without departure from the scope of the claims, it is intended that -allmatter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having now particularly described `and `ascertained the nature of the invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, what is claimed is:

' l. A method of .making elonga-ted air diffuser elements which comprises providing a strip of metal, punch central Ibolt lholes and edge half holes to/be folded inwardly to match the central holes, folding the side edges at right `angles to central portion of the strip, -die-cutting rectangular openings in the center of the strip and folding up the die-cut portions to -form oblique vanes at right langles to the central portion of the strip but extending obliquely across the strip and then nally folding in lthe side edges to meet at the center of the strip and cover the openings.

2. A method of making elongated `air diffuser elements which comprises providing a strip of metal, punch central bolt holes and edge half holes to be folded inwardly to match the central holes, folding the side edges at right angles to central portion of the strip, die-cutting rectangular openings in the center of the strip `and folding up the die-cut portions to form oblique vanes at right angles Y to the central portion of the strip but extending obliquely across the strip and then finally folding in the side edges to meet lat the center of the strip and cover the openings, cutting the strips to length and then assembling them' together to form a difuser construction.

3. A method of making elongated air diluser elements which comprises providing a strip of metal, punch central bolt holes and edge half holes to be folded inwardly to match the central holes, folding the side edges at right angles to central portion of the strip, `die-cutting rectangular openings in the center of the strip and 4folding up the die-cut portions to form oblique vanes at right `angles to the central portion of the strip but extending obliquely across the strip `and then finally folding in the side edges to meet Iat the center of the strip and cover the openings, cutting the strips to length and ythen assembling them' together to form .a diffuser construction, said vassembly being made inside of side flanges having outwardly eX- tending face flanges for mounting upon :a wall or ceiling structure.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS Davies Oct. 6, 1959 

1. A METHOD OF MAKING ELONGATED AIR DIFFUSER ELEMENTS WHICH COMPRISES PROVIDING A STRIP OF METAL, PUNCH CENTRAL BOLT HOLES AND EDGE HALF HOLES TO BE FOLDED INWARDLY TO MATCH THE CENTRAL HOLES, FOLDING THE SIDE EDGES AT RIGHT ANGLES TO CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STRIP, DIE-CUTTING RECTANGULAR OPENINGS IN THE CENTER OF THE STRIP AND FOLDING UP THE DIE-CUT PORTIONS TO FORM OBLIQUE VANES AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THE STRIP BUT EXTENDING OBLIQUELY ACROSS THE STRIP AND THEN FINALLY FOLDING IN THE SIDE EDGES TO MEET AT THE CENTER OF THE STRIP AND COVER THE OPENINGS. 